This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Finland's government has granted an operating license for the world's first permanent repository for radioactive spent nuclear fuel, waste management company Posiva said Thursday, 22 years after construction began on the site.

Blasted into 1.9-billion-year-old stable bedrock in Eurajoki in southwestern Finland, the geological repository will house spent nuclear fuel in holes drilled into the bedrock, where it will remain harmfully radioactive for thousands of years.

"This is a great and historic day for both Posiva and Finland," Posiva chief executive Ilkka Poikolainen said in a statement.

The site, dubbed Onkalo, which means "cave" in Finnish, is expected to start operations soon, but Posiva said no exact date had been decided yet.

"No detailed schedule is given at this point for the startup," it said.

"Before final disposal begins, Posiva will finalize the commissioning stage, carrying out the necessary tests and inspections which STUK (the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority) also needs to verify and approve."

With space for 6,500 tonnes (7,200 tons) of uranium, Onkalo will provide permanent storage for spent fuel from Finland's five nuclear reactors.

The fuel will be encapsulated in copper canisters that are highly resistant to corrosion, then lowered into holes drilled in tunnels in the bedrock, which will be filled with bentonite clay and finally sealed with a steel-reinforced concrete plug.

The fuel will be highly radioactive for tens of thousands of years.

Source link